Friday, March 27, 2009
Morgan Patton
The best thing about this blog is learning about new upcoming riders - and here's one with a big suitcase of courage: Morgan Patton, the Lanterne Rouge of the prologue of the women's race at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.Team Type 1 Communications Director Sean Weide tells her story:
Morgan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of seven. As a teenager, she struggled to effectively manage her diabetes."
But that changed when she rode along as part of Team Type 1's crew for the 2006 Race Across America. That experience marked the first time she had been surrounded by other people with diabetes – all of whom were athletes competing in a rigorous event. This inspired her to start cycling as a means of controlling her diabetes.
At age 17, she began competing in bike races, and, over the years, her A1C has been reduced significantly. Where she might have previously struggled to control her diabetes before, now she is a trained athlete, managing her diabetes through healthy diet and exercise, along with using the latest technology for monitoring her glucose levels.
She was last of the 138 starters today in a field that included the world time trial champion (Amber Neben) and U.S. time trial champion (Alison Powers). She is also first to admit that uphill time trials are not her thing. Criteriums are much more her style. In fact, she finished second and Team Type 1 teammate Monique Hanley was third at the Kelly Cup Criterium last June. This year, she has already won three races in Georgia and finished second in a fourth.
Update: Unfortunately, Morgan was a DNF the following day at Redlands when the average speed of the winner was 23.01 MPH. Taking the Lanterne Rouge slot is Beatriz Rodriguez of Kahala LaGrange.
She stayed in the game and ultimately after the third stage finished as the overall Lanterne Rouge of the women's division at Redlands:
80 372 Rodriguez, Beatriz USA Kahala LaGrange 8:42:14 at 1:32:33
Labels: Hanley, Neben, Patton, Powers, Rodriguez, Weide
Monday, July 23, 2007
Stage 15: Foix to Loudenvielle
Here's a poetic tribute to the Lanterne Rouge.
I don't yet have confirmation of any DNSs for the day. Possibly Philippe Gilbert? Ah, yes, Velonews says: "We see that Francaise des Jeux's Philippe Gilbert and Liquigas's Filippo Pozzato opted not to start." Pozzato was the Lanterne Rouge of Stage 3 in 2006. There are 163 riders at the start of the day.
Here's a somewhat garbled note in the Cyclingnews.com coverage about our Lanterne Rouge: "Philippe Gilbert had a fever yesterday and struggled to last place, some 40-odd minutes down. He made the time cut but Wim Vansevenant didn't (Predictor-Lotto) didn't think he'd be able to start and he didn't. Vansevenant for himself told Brecht Decaluwè that he is the master of managing the time cuts, but acknowledged it will be really hard today to make it. It's a very difficult stage. We'll keep you posted on the Belgian rider, who wants to save his Lanterne Rouge place all the way to Paris.""
They said on Versus that Cyril Dessel (Ag2r Prevoyance) abandoned today. Yes, at around 39 km into the stage. The head count is now 162, with 27 riders lost en route thus far in the Tour.
Alexandre Vinokourov should be nicknamed Rasputin. They can't kill him. Stabbing? Poison? Clubbing? Shooting? Drowning? Stupid spectators? Nothing can get that man down for long.
Oh no! The web updates reveal some more abandons that weren't covered on TV. Here's the full list for the day of riders who are finished with the 2007 Tour de France:
165 GILBERT Philippe (BEL) FRANCAISE DES JEUX non-starter
151 POZZATO Filippo (ITA) LIQUIGAS non-starter
109 LE MEVEL Christophe (FRA) CREDIT AGRICOLE withdrawls
64 DESSEL Cyril (FRA) AG2R PREVOYANCE withdrawls
47 RODRIGUEZ Fred (USA) PREDICTOR - LOTTO withdrawls
Le Mevel was the C.A. rider who crashed going around a right-hand curve at about the 40 km mark and then a rider in orange flipped over him, Jorge Azanza from Euskaltel-Euskadi.
I haven't found word about exactly what happened to Fast Freddie Rodriguez today, but he abandoned before the fourth climb. He said on his blog before the stage, "I managed to survive yesterday’s race with a real bad stomach. Don't ask me how. I think I really went deep mentally, because physically I was empty. I woke up with the same bad stomach this morning. This will be my chance to fight again and hang on."
Rik Verbrugge, Cofidis rider who was in our final five yesterday, had a great ride today and finished in 56th place, moving him up from the penultimate rider in the GC to 144th overall. There was a huge autobus of 47 riders who arrived at the finish line at 35:45 after the stage winner, with no late stragglers. Wim Vansevenant, the Lanterne Rouge, arrived about 4 minutes ahead of it, so that modified his time gap slightly. There are 160 remaining in the Tour.
Our final five in the standings are now:
156. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 72h 48' 08" + 2h 55' 54"
157. KRAUSS Sven 96 GEROLSTEINER 72h 50' 34" + 2h 58' 20"
158. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 72h 52' 12" + 2h 59' 58"
159. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 72h 54' 13" + 3h 01' 59"
160. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 72h 57' 12" + 3h 04' 58"
(Um, their name in the official Tour standings is backwards, not me, the given name is Geraint, the family name is Thomas).
It seems that Thor Hushovd threw out his back while taking a leak off the bike earlier in the Tour. He indicated he might have been unable to continue if the rest day hadn't fortunately been next.
And here are the stage stats, courtesy of VeloNews:
Medical report:
Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) fall on the Col de Port, traumatism on right shoulder, transferred to hospital in Saint-Girons, X-rays revealed a fracture in the right clavicle
Efimkin (Barloworld) crash on Col de Port, superficial cuts and scrapes
Iglinskiy (Astana) crash at 100km, without apparent serious injuries
Rodriguez and Van Summeren (Predictor-Lotto), Moreau (Ag2r), Mercado (Agritubel), Nuyens (Cofidis), Sieberg (Milram) - all digestive problems
Jury decisions: No rulings
I don't yet have confirmation of any DNSs for the day. Possibly Philippe Gilbert? Ah, yes, Velonews says: "We see that Francaise des Jeux's Philippe Gilbert and Liquigas's Filippo Pozzato opted not to start." Pozzato was the Lanterne Rouge of Stage 3 in 2006. There are 163 riders at the start of the day.
Here's a somewhat garbled note in the Cyclingnews.com coverage about our Lanterne Rouge: "Philippe Gilbert had a fever yesterday and struggled to last place, some 40-odd minutes down. He made the time cut but Wim Vansevenant didn't (Predictor-Lotto) didn't think he'd be able to start and he didn't. Vansevenant for himself told Brecht Decaluwè that he is the master of managing the time cuts, but acknowledged it will be really hard today to make it. It's a very difficult stage. We'll keep you posted on the Belgian rider, who wants to save his Lanterne Rouge place all the way to Paris.""
They said on Versus that Cyril Dessel (Ag2r Prevoyance) abandoned today. Yes, at around 39 km into the stage. The head count is now 162, with 27 riders lost en route thus far in the Tour.
Alexandre Vinokourov should be nicknamed Rasputin. They can't kill him. Stabbing? Poison? Clubbing? Shooting? Drowning? Stupid spectators? Nothing can get that man down for long.
Oh no! The web updates reveal some more abandons that weren't covered on TV. Here's the full list for the day of riders who are finished with the 2007 Tour de France:
165 GILBERT Philippe (BEL) FRANCAISE DES JEUX non-starter
151 POZZATO Filippo (ITA) LIQUIGAS non-starter
109 LE MEVEL Christophe (FRA) CREDIT AGRICOLE withdrawls
64 DESSEL Cyril (FRA) AG2R PREVOYANCE withdrawls
47 RODRIGUEZ Fred (USA) PREDICTOR - LOTTO withdrawls
Le Mevel was the C.A. rider who crashed going around a right-hand curve at about the 40 km mark and then a rider in orange flipped over him, Jorge Azanza from Euskaltel-Euskadi.
I haven't found word about exactly what happened to Fast Freddie Rodriguez today, but he abandoned before the fourth climb. He said on his blog before the stage, "I managed to survive yesterday’s race with a real bad stomach. Don't ask me how. I think I really went deep mentally, because physically I was empty. I woke up with the same bad stomach this morning. This will be my chance to fight again and hang on."
Rik Verbrugge, Cofidis rider who was in our final five yesterday, had a great ride today and finished in 56th place, moving him up from the penultimate rider in the GC to 144th overall. There was a huge autobus of 47 riders who arrived at the finish line at 35:45 after the stage winner, with no late stragglers. Wim Vansevenant, the Lanterne Rouge, arrived about 4 minutes ahead of it, so that modified his time gap slightly. There are 160 remaining in the Tour.
Our final five in the standings are now:
156. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 72h 48' 08" + 2h 55' 54"
157. KRAUSS Sven 96 GEROLSTEINER 72h 50' 34" + 2h 58' 20"
158. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 72h 52' 12" + 2h 59' 58"
159. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 72h 54' 13" + 3h 01' 59"
160. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 72h 57' 12" + 3h 04' 58"
(Um, their name in the official Tour standings is backwards, not me, the given name is Geraint, the family name is Thomas).
It seems that Thor Hushovd threw out his back while taking a leak off the bike earlier in the Tour. He indicated he might have been unable to continue if the rest day hadn't fortunately been next.
And here are the stage stats, courtesy of VeloNews:
Medical report:
Le Mevel (Credit Agricole) fall on the Col de Port, traumatism on right shoulder, transferred to hospital in Saint-Girons, X-rays revealed a fracture in the right clavicle
Efimkin (Barloworld) crash on Col de Port, superficial cuts and scrapes
Iglinskiy (Astana) crash at 100km, without apparent serious injuries
Rodriguez and Van Summeren (Predictor-Lotto), Moreau (Ag2r), Mercado (Agritubel), Nuyens (Cofidis), Sieberg (Milram) - all digestive problems
Jury decisions: No rulings
Labels: Azanza, Dessel, Gilbert, Hushovd, Krauss, Le Mevel, Nuyens, Pozzato, Rodriguez, Thomas, Vansevenant, Verbrugge, Vinokourov
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Stage 13: Albi 54km individual time trial
The roads are wet and Cancellara crashed on the course.
Here are standings of the last five riders in the GC after Stage 12 and the current provisional Stage 13 ITT time gaps from the interim leader, Bradley Wiggins, after the ITT is partially complete:
Was 162. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 4:43
Was 163. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 5:55
Was 164. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 7:01
Was 165. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 3:39
Was 166. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 7:06
At the end of the day: the slowest time trials of the day were:
162. AERTS Mario 42 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 1h 18' 33" + 11' 59"
163. HALGAND Patrice 107 CREDIT AGRICOLE 1h 18' 52" + 12' 18"
164. RODRIGUEZ Fred 47 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 1h 19' 16" + 12' 42"
165. VENTOSO Francisco 209 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 1h 19' 59" + 13' 25"
166. JALABERT Nicolas 137 AGRITUBEL 1h 20' 18" + 13' 44"
So the slowest of 166 cyclists in the Tour completed this ITT course at an average pace of 40.34 km/hr or 25.07 mph. That pace includes any slips, crashes, bobbles, flats, tire changes, new bikes, or whatever else can happen in 54 kilometers of wet, slippery roads.
AFTER completion of the time trial, the last five riders in the General Classification are only very slightly shuffled with Verbrugghe's ride lifting him up one notch:
162. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 60h 41' 48" + 1h 55' 09"
163. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 60h 43' 20" + 1h 56' 41"
164. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 60h 43' 46" + 1h 57' 07"
165. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 60h 45' 12" + 1h 58' 33"
166. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 60h 50' 13" + 2h 03' 34"
Wim Vansevenant retains his position as Lanterne Rouge after this individual time trial with a 5-minute gap to the next rider in the overall standings.
Thanks again to VeloNews for providing us with Stage Stats, including:
Medical report:
Cancellara (CSC), Isasi (Euskaltel), Gusev (Discovery Channel), Jalabert (Agritubel), Kashechkin and Klöden (both Astana) all crashed but did not require medical attention
Jury decisions:
Saunier Duval-Prodir sport director fined 200 CHF and relegated to last position in Sunday's stage for driving dangerously and provoking an accident
Elsewhere: I just noticed this short video entitled "The lantern rouge, and the suffering" at Cyclingnews.com, but it really only mentions the Lanterne Rouge in passing and focuses on how tough the Tour is on the riders, with lots of shots of sweaty grimacing pro cyclists.
Tomorrow's stage 14 entering the Pyrenees should be a classic to watch: 2 HC summits and a mountaintop finish on Plateau de Beille, where Armstrong and Pantani were victorious. Velonews says, "Given the climb's history, the stage winner could be standing on top of the podium in Paris."
Here are standings of the last five riders in the GC after Stage 12 and the current provisional Stage 13 ITT time gaps from the interim leader, Bradley Wiggins, after the ITT is partially complete:
Was 162. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 4:43
Was 163. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 5:55
Was 164. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 7:01
Was 165. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 3:39
Was 166. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 7:06
At the end of the day: the slowest time trials of the day were:
162. AERTS Mario 42 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 1h 18' 33" + 11' 59"
163. HALGAND Patrice 107 CREDIT AGRICOLE 1h 18' 52" + 12' 18"
164. RODRIGUEZ Fred 47 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 1h 19' 16" + 12' 42"
165. VENTOSO Francisco 209 SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 1h 19' 59" + 13' 25"
166. JALABERT Nicolas 137 AGRITUBEL 1h 20' 18" + 13' 44"
So the slowest of 166 cyclists in the Tour completed this ITT course at an average pace of 40.34 km/hr or 25.07 mph. That pace includes any slips, crashes, bobbles, flats, tire changes, new bikes, or whatever else can happen in 54 kilometers of wet, slippery roads.
AFTER completion of the time trial, the last five riders in the General Classification are only very slightly shuffled with Verbrugghe's ride lifting him up one notch:
162. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 60h 41' 48" + 1h 55' 09"
163. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 60h 43' 20" + 1h 56' 41"
164. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 60h 43' 46" + 1h 57' 07"
165. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 60h 45' 12" + 1h 58' 33"
166. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 60h 50' 13" + 2h 03' 34"
Wim Vansevenant retains his position as Lanterne Rouge after this individual time trial with a 5-minute gap to the next rider in the overall standings.Thanks again to VeloNews for providing us with Stage Stats, including:
Medical report:
Cancellara (CSC), Isasi (Euskaltel), Gusev (Discovery Channel), Jalabert (Agritubel), Kashechkin and Klöden (both Astana) all crashed but did not require medical attention
Jury decisions:
Saunier Duval-Prodir sport director fined 200 CHF and relegated to last position in Sunday's stage for driving dangerously and provoking an accident
Elsewhere: I just noticed this short video entitled "The lantern rouge, and the suffering" at Cyclingnews.com, but it really only mentions the Lanterne Rouge in passing and focuses on how tough the Tour is on the riders, with lots of shots of sweaty grimacing pro cyclists.
Tomorrow's stage 14 entering the Pyrenees should be a classic to watch: 2 HC summits and a mountaintop finish on Plateau de Beille, where Armstrong and Pantani were victorious. Velonews says, "Given the climb's history, the stage winner could be standing on top of the podium in Paris."
Labels: Aerts, Cancellara, Charteau, Halgand, ITT, Jalabert, Kuschynski, Nuyens, Rodriguez, Vansevenant, Ventoso, Verbrugghe
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Stage 7: Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand
Six riders finished today's stage in a small grupetto, over 24 minutes after the stage winner:175. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 48 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
176. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
177. RODRIGUEZ Fred 47 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
178. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
179. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
180. MC EWEN Robbie 46 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
The final five riders in the general classification after this stage include some familiar names:
176. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 11:23:09 + 00:39:29
177. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 11:23:35 + 00:39:55
178. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 11:26:09 + 00:42:29
179. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 11:26:28 + 00:42:48
180. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 11:28:24 + 00:44:44
Kuschynski (previous Lanterne Rouge of stages 1-3), Napolitano, and Cavendish are all riding in their first Tour de France. Vansevenant was the overall Lanterne Rouge of the 2006 Tour.
The photo of Cavendish "off the back" above is from Stage 1, by Simon Clayson, when he finished 3rd from last.
Labels: Cavendish, Chavanel, Hoste, Kuschynski, McEwen, Napolitano, Rodriguez, Van Summeren, Vansevenant, Zabriskie
